


Anchor

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Has Issues, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 17:25:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15976991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "Tony felt the wind knocked out of him as his arms were suddenly full of Peter Parker. Although his first instinct was to shove Peter off of him because they weren’tthere, he managed to suppress that urge as he realized just how tightly Peter was clinging to him—anddamndid that kid have a strong grip."





	Anchor

“Boss, one of the elevators has shut down.”

Tony looked up from his plans for a nanotech suit and groaned. “Damn it. What happened this time?”

“It appears that one of the bots you lost last week tampered with it.”

“Well, you know the protocol, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Elevator back up, bot down.” He shook his head in exasperation and muttered under his breath about the loyalty of bots as he started swiping at screens, but then F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice came back on.

“Peter Parker is in the elevator, boss. His heart rate and breathing are quite erratic, and he’s calling for you.”

“What?! Put him through!”

“—Stark, help me! Somebody help me, _I can’t breathe_!”

Tony snapped up out of his seat and ran for his personal elevator. He’d thought Peter had left a long time ago, just how long had he been stuck? He briefly wondered why Spider-Man wouldn’t just bust out of stopped elevator, but the terror in Peter’s voice had been genuine. There was something there much bigger than just a stopped elevator in those cries.

The elevator with Peter reached the ground floor before Tony, but it wasn’t long before he was there and running for the open elevator doors.

The elevator was empty, but a short distance away came the sound of shallow breathing. Tony followed the sound to its source, where he found Peter curled in on himself, clawing at nothing and hyperventilating. Alarmed, Tony quickly closed the distance between them and reached out.

“Kid—”

Tony only just managed to jump out of the way in time as Peter lashed out, eyes blown wide but not really seeing, and his already unsettling shallow breathing became even more shallow. Tony cursed under his breath, but kneeled a careful distance away so as not to repeat what had just happened. Peter’s eyes vaguely met his, and Tony was careful to hold that gaze.

“It’s Mr. Stark, kid. I’m on your side, remember?”

Peter blinked, eyes focusing somewhat, and his shallow breaths started to turn into loud heaving, which was an even more unsettling sound, but it at least seemed to be a sign that Peter was regaining some clarity. Tony reached out to put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and, when Peter didn’t lash out again, gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Back to Earth, Pete. I’m here, you’re here. _Breathe_.”

Although the pure terror on Peter’s face was hard to look at, Tony made sure that he didn’t look away as Peter heaved and shuddered. He took deliberate deep breaths until Peter started to mimic him and slow his uncontrollable heaving to something that wasn’t going to make him pass out. Peter shifted then, and Tony removed his hand from Peter’s shoulder.

“M-Mr. Stark.”

Tony felt the wind knocked out of him as his arms were suddenly full of Peter Parker. Although his first instinct was to shove Peter off of him because they weren’t _there_ , he managed to suppress that urge as he realized just how tightly Peter was clinging to him—and _damn_ did that kid have a strong grip. 

The urge to push him away was further banished as it became clear that Peter was trembling violently and still occasionally taking his breath in a hiccuping gasp. Tony wrapped one arm around Peter’s trembling frame and put the other hand on Peter’s head to gently stroke his hair. Peter tensed at first, inhaling sharply, but then his grip relaxed to Tony’s relief.

They sat there, Tony continuing to hold Peter and stroke his hair, and Peter became more and more relaxed and boneless in Tony’s grip until he was breathing normally and no longer trembling. Not for the first time, a fierce protective urge coursed through Tony, and he briefly had the thought that this was what it was like to have a child before just as quickly dismissing it.

“Better?”

Peter nodded slowly and carefully extracted himself from Tony’s arms. Tony was surprised to find that he actually missed the feeling of holding and comforting Peter, but the sight of Peter’s face didn’t give him the time to contemplate that feeling. Peter looked terrible, for lack of a better word, like he’d been awake for weeks and had been working every moment of that time. No kid, especially not Peter, should have to know what that felt like.

Tony stood with a sigh and held out a hand for Peter to help him up. Even if he was having a lot of pseudo-parental feeling towards Peter, there were hands far more capable than his of taking care of an emotionally exhausted teenager.

“Let’s get you back to your aunt, all right, kid?”

He clapped Peter on the back as he led him towards the exit where Happy was still waiting. Rather than leave Happy to it, Tony opted to come along on the drive back to Peter’s apartment. If Peter was willing, and after May had been given a chance to give Peter the proper parental fussing he needed, he hoped to hear what had triggered that attack, so that he’d be able to prevent it in the future.

* * *

Life after The Snap went on for most people. The people who had been left behind were eager to forget and those that came back didn’t even remember being gone. 

For Tony, though, it wasn’t as simple as just pretending that half the universe had been vaporized with just a snap of Thanos’s fingers. He’d still wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, replaying the events on Titan in his head, remembering how his failure had led to Strange giving Thanos the Time Stone, the look of fear on Quill’s face as he and his friends disappeared, Strange’s resignation, and—

Perhaps the only bright spot in that situation had been that it had forced Tony to admit that he cared for Peter much more than he let on, and Peter’s return had seen Tony openly weeping in relief and giving Peter a real hug because they were definitely _there_ and suppressed emotions didn’t matter a bit.

For as much as knowing Peter Parker had given him yet another person to lose sleep over and a lot of headaches for all the eye-rolling he did at Peter’s memes and pop culture references, he loved that kid. It was possibly the least complicated relationship he’d ever had with another person, and he felt grounded when Peter was with him. Even if he and Pepper never had children of their own, Tony felt he understood what it was to have a kid, and all the joys and sorrows that came with it.

They spent a lot more time just hanging out. They still spent time going over improvements to Peter’s suits, but Peter also just did his homework while they talked or watched movies on Netflix where Peter had to explain all the slang those Gen Z kids used. 

That day, Peter came by because Tony wanted to give Peter the space to improve his web shooters and fluid with only occasional input, but he came into the lab sniffling and coughing. Tony looked up from where he was tinkering with an old armor model as Peter threw his backpack into the corner and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

“Hey, kid. Bad day?”

“I dunno, I might be getting sick. Not feeling so good.”

The piece of armor in Tony’s hands clattered to the floor as those words brought back the one memory he had successfully suppressed, and his ears started ringing as he remembered the most horrible part of that day on Titan.

_“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good.”_

He remembered Peter’s ashen face as The Snap crept up on him. The way he stumbled into Tony’s arms and held on like it would keep him from disappearing like Strange had only moments before.

_“Sir, please. I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go!”_

The feeling of Peter Parker turning to dust in his fingertips. Cradling what was left of Peter Parker as close as he could.

There was a muffled voice calling his name, and the images of Peter’s final moments on Titan started to clear and he realized he was on the lab floor struggling to breathe. He managed to stumble into a sitting position, and that’s when he noticed Peter kneeling on the floor near him with a look of panicked worry on his face.

Although he was horrified that Peter was seeing him in that state, it really was soothing just having him there. 

“Mr. Stark, can you hear me?”

Tony nodded as best he could and somewhat blindly grasped for something to hold onto. That something turned out to be Peter’s hand.

He gripped at Peter’s hand perhaps a little too tight, but what little rational thought he still had at the back of his mind reminded him that Peter could snap him in half using just his pinky if he really wanted to. That tight grip was something tangible, something to ground him.

Peter really was good at that.

It was much easier then to control his breathing and come out of that dark place in his mind he was trying to tuck away like so many other things. He finally swallowed hard and looked Peter right in the eyes. He gave Peter’s hand one last squeeze before letting it go.

“Sorry, kid.”

Peter shook his head with a lopsided smile. “Call it payback for when you helped me out.”

It had been an unspoken agreement between them that that incident wouldn’t be brought up again, but Tony just raised his eyebrows and nodded. Peter’s smile widened, and Tony was about to return it when Peter let out a loud and particularly disgusting sneeze.

“While appreciate you helping me out, I won’t appreciate it if you give me whatever gross spider disease you have.”

“Hey!”

Tony chuckled as he stood back up. He wobbled for only a moment, then he ruffled Peter’s hair when he also stood up. 

“Pretty sure there’s some soup that Pepper got in the kitchen if you want to eat. Work can come later.” Peter looked ready to argue, so Tony pre-empted him. “I’ll tell May you’re staying the night. You can work tomorrow if you rest today.”

That was enough for Peter to nod and grab his backpack again. Before he left the lab, he paused in the doorway.

“You gonna come out later? There’s a Netflix movie I wanna watch.”

Tony let out a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. “Am I going to be able to understand any of the dialogue?”

“Probably not, old man, but that’s why I’m here!”

Peter took off with a cheeky grin before Tony could respond, and he chuckled before he sobered up again.

There were things he was going to have to address eventually—unpleasant memories that would only fester in their ability to ruin him if he continued to ignore them.

For the time being, though, there was a great kid in the other room who had come back, and there was a hand to hold with a firm grip to keep him from completely losing his way.


End file.
